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It's awkward — kind of like inviting a friend to a party who spends half her time talking to someone else.

University of Utah administrators, playing host Friday to acclaimed primatologist Jane Goodall, are trying — quietly — to draw a clear line between the scientist's sold-out lecture on conservation at the downtown City Creek Marriott and an anti-GMO news conference she has scheduled with an author earlier in the day.

Goodall's life's work, including decades of groundbreaking research on chimpanzees, would be reason enough to invite her to Utah to speak.

But her new avocation — denouncing genetically modified foods (GMO) — has made the choice more controversial. She was accused of plagiarism in writing her 2013 book "Seeds of Hope" — lifting parts from websites and interviews she didn't conduct — and her publisher ended up re-releasing the title in 2014.

That literary misstep does not diminish 81-year-old Goodall's legacy or the value of her speech, said Jeff McCarthy, director of the U.'s environmental humanities program.

Her impact "is so much bigger than any one small controversy," McCarthy said, stressing that "the general thrust of her interaction with the world has been in her role as an environmental advocate, a peace activist and someone who encourages us to care deeply about animals."

Goodall's visit to Utah was months in the making. The last time she spoke at the university was in 2008. Last year, administrators invited the British scientist to speak again.

Her appearance with anti-GMO activist and attorney Steven Druker was scheduled much later.

"I just look at it as a golden opportunity to come to the place where she's going to be and give a press conference on the same day," Druker said Thursday. "She's so concerned about this issue and believes my book can play a major role about turning this around."

Goodall also consulted him for a chapter of her "Seeds of Hope," he said.

Druker is the author of the newly released "Altered Genes, Twisted Truth: How the venture to genetically engineer our food has subverted science, corrupted government and systematically deceived the public," and says that studies on animals and contaminated supplements show there is cause to believe modified seed strains do more harm than good.

Goodall wrote a forward for the book, praising it as "without doubt, one of the most important books of the last 50 years," according to Salt Lake City-based Clear River Press, which published it.

She will appear with Druker in the afternoon for a news conference at the University Guest House.

Goodall is also scheduled to talk Friday to about 300 schoolchildren at the Salt Lake Center for Science Education.

At 7 p.m., she will take the podium for the university, which has split the cost of Goodall's visit with other organizations. Utah-based environmental foundation Pax Natura is renting space on the U. campus for the afternoon news conference, which is separate from the university lecture, said U. spokeswoman Jana Cunningham.

Pax Natura also is a sponsor of the evening speech, footing $20,000 of the $50,000 bill, said Heidi Camp, assistant dean of the U.'s College of Humanities. The remaining $5,000 comes from private donors.

Cunningham and McCarthy said the university does not expect Goodall's evening speech to touch on her recent work to end the use of genetically altered crops.

But the much-debated subject isn't off the table, said Jacob Petersen, outreach coordinator for the Jane Goodall Institute. "Her talk mainly goes into her life" and work with chimpanzees, but also details her conservation efforts in Tanzania's Gombe Stream National Park and development initiatives in other central and east African nations, Petersen said. The specific subject matter varies from town to town.

"Normally, what she brings it back to is we have a choice that we're making in our life," he added. When it comes to GMO foods, "she's trying to raise awareness that they're harmful to the environment, that they're harmful to people who are consuming them."

Not everyone agrees.

As long as genetically engineered foods have approval from the Food and Drug Administration, they pose no added risk, according to Karin Allen, a professor of food science at Utah State University.

"From a public health standpoint, I think they're so closely scrutinized that they're not an issue," Allen said.

And cultivating such crops does not necessarily take an extra toll on the environment, Brigham Young University genetics, plant and wildlife sciences professor Jeff Maughan said in an email. Still, Maughan adds, the agriculture industry warrants close monitoring and regulation.

For those going to Goodall's lecture, the controversy over GMOs and Goodall's book may be secondary.

Jessika Jacob is a lifelong admirer of Goodall and an opponent of GMOs. Jacob was unaware of Goodall and Druker's initiative but said seeing the renowned conservationist speak has been "on my bucket list." She has tickets to attend the downtown event with a friend.

Jacob, 38, from Cottonwood Heights, who runs Natural Mother Magazine, chooses organic foods and would like to see more independent studies on GMOs. She worries the development of more pesticide-resistant varieties drives the use of harmful chemicals on crops such as corn and beans.

Before coming to Salt Lake City, Goodall and Druker touched down in London in March, then in Costa Rica and Toronto earlier this month, said Druker's publicist Andrew Blum. They are set to continue the tour with a Tuesday event at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

Tickets for Friday's lecture sold out in February, soon after they went on sale. A seat cost $15 for students and $25 for others.